Call for Proposals
CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE 2027 FUNDING FUTURES FESTIVAL IS OPEN!
The Call for Proposals (CFP) will be open through 15 November via the Whova portal and invites three types of sessions: Action Labs, Lightning Talks, and Open Gallery submissions. Final decisions will be announced by the end of January 2027. Applications can be submitted in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. Read on for instructions and session descriptions.
ACTION LABS
STRATEGY, LEARNING, AND COLLECTIVE ACTION.
FORMAT: 90-MINUTE INTERACTIVE, COLLABORATIVE WORKSHOPS
Action Labs are the primary interactive, community-led workshop format for the 2027 Funding Futures Festival. Designed to break out of traditional presentation formats, Action Labs bring participants directly into problem solving, skill-building, and strategy design. They can be led by up to four organizations, and proposals must include a description of issue areas, methodology, and session goals.
We welcome Action Labs centered on three core orientations:
- Strategy & Brainstorming: Grapple with the future of human rights and philanthropy, tackle the field’s toughest strategic questions, or raise a focused strategy idea through structured problem solving and dialogue.
- Learning & Skill-Building: Host dynamic, workshop-style sessions to share field-tested best practices, innovative grantmaking tools, and actionable insights across movements and regions.
- Launches & Joint Action: Invite peers into existing or emerging coalitions, joint funding initiatives, or coordinated advocacy strategies. Land and launch joint action on-site in Johannesburg!
LIGHTNING TALKS
FAST, PROVOCATIVE, AND FUTURE-FOCUSED.
FORMAT: 7-MINUTE RAPID PRESENTATIONS
Lightning Talks are fast-paced, cutting edge presentations designed to spark fresh thinking and challenge orthodoxies in the field. Presenters deliver a single sharp idea, provocative critique, emerging approach, or breakthrough idea on tomorrow’s human rights challenges — from emerging technologies and climate tipping points to novel funding tools, new forms of organizing, and radical shifts in philanthropic practice. These talks serve as catalysts that ignite deeper discussions throughout the Festival.
OPEN GALLERIES
SHOWCASE, INTERACT, AND INSPIRE.
FORMAT: DYNAMIC INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS
The Open Gallery is a vibrant space to showcase your work for a community of funders from around the world. Bring your latest research findings, artistic interventions, and multimedia projects to life in an evening of networking, peer learning, and visual storytelling. Beautifully designed, these self-guided and self-paced discovery journeys have featured interactive board games, hands-on visualization of new research, campaign demonstrations, and collaborative art creation on site. For inspiration, see images from our last Festival’s Open Gallery.
Selecting a Track
Participants must select a primary track (climate, technology, democracy and civic space, or open; read about the tracks here), but are encouraged to explore intersections across themes and identify specific communities, regions, and issues that will be addressed.
How to Submit a Proposal
CFP submissions will be accepted via the Whova portal through 15 November 2026.
Applications can be submitted in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. Submission instructions within Whova are in English, but you can download CFP submission instructions (for all session types) in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. These PDFs are for reference only, applications are only accepted via Whova.
Download submission instructions in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
If additional language access is needed, please contact our team at conference@hrfn.org.
CFP REVIEW & SELECTION PROCESS
Our goal is to weave issues, perspectives, and approaches that directly reflect the needs and priorities of human rights movements globally. Festival sessions will be selected to uplift a range of critical issues — from South Africa, across the region, and around the globe — and shine a light on what funders must do to prepare for the future of human rights resourcing.
What We Are Looking For:
Selection will prioritize sessions that demonstrate:
- Critical Field Questions: Sessions that boldly address systemic power imbalances, strategic gaps, and pressing political realities.
- Future-Fit Tools & Approaches: Practical tactics, adaptive strategies, and innovative resourcing models that prepare funders for the future challenges and opportunities in human rights.
- Ready-to-Activate Collaborations: Real opportunities to launch, scale, or finalize collaborative funding efforts on-site.
- Diversity, Regional Equity, & Intersectionality: Proposals that uplift Global South leadership, center frontline movement voices, and demonstrate strong cross-issue connections.
Curated by the Community, for the Field:
- Peer-Led Advisory Review: Session proposals will be evaluated by HRFN’s track advisors, leaders in the dedicated track areas and across the field of human rights philanthropy. The Open Track will be vetted by HRFN Steering Committee members.
- Grounded in Community Priorities: Selection criteria will be directly informed by priorities surfaced across the HRFN network, through member surveys, and deep-dive community conversations.
COMMUNITY
Join our community and get access to special member rates and events.
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
Learn more about programs, member events, and emerging human rights issues.